Hunt for Rajasthan village heads who ostracized minor

Jaipur : Police have launched a hunt for 10 village heads in Rajasthan who ostracized a minor and made her stay away from her home reportedly for breaking a bird's eggs in Bundi district, an official said on Friday.

On Thursday, Hukumchand Regar, the father of the girl, had filed a complaint at Hindoli Police Station in the district against the panchayat chiefs after the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights extended support to the aggrieved family.

Police officer Nanag Ram Meena told IANS that an FIR had been lodged against the 10 village heads under the Indian Penal Code for torture and extortion, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Untouchability Act 1955.

Another police officer, Laxman Singh, said statements of the victim and her family members had been recorded. "We have visited the site to correlate the facts," he said.

He said the accused were on the run.

"We went to their places to arrest them but their family members expressed ignorance about their whereabouts. We are making all-out efforts to arrest them."

The five-year-old girl was ostracized and her family ordered not to allow her to enter their hut for 11 days -- merely because she broke a bird's eggs.